Kono Sora
by Ryuuen Chou
Summary: Troublemaking teenager Uzumaki Naruto is sent to Kuraita High, a private high school for kids who just can't get along in normal schools, for whatever reason. It is there that he meets a young woman who changes his world forever... (ch. 2 EDITED!)
1. DIVE atashi no HAATO ni

Kono Sora (this sky) By Ryuuen  
  
Warnings: Just the usual.. shounen-ai (possible yaoi later on), A/U, language, very dark and mature themes. Suicide is mentioned. Cutting is also an issue.  
  
A/N: Wow.. this is.. a little dark. It's an A/U.. Naruto characters in the present. And they all wind up in the same place. Aw, heck, I'll just give you the summary...  
  
SUMMARY: Troublemaking teenager Uzumaki Naruto is sent to Kuraita High, a private high school for kids who just can't get along in normal schools, for whatever reason. It is there that he meets a young woman who changes his world forever...  
  
NOTE: A cookie to anyone who can guess who the two teachers mentioned in this chapter are. (Jinx, if you read this, I certain as heck hope you get those!).  
  
Ch. 1 Recommended Listening: English: "30 Minutes" -- T.a.T.u, "Try Again" Aaliyah. Japanese: "Harumonia" -- Naruto, "Koppelia no Hitsugi" -- Noir.  
  
K~O~N~O--S~O~R~A Chapter One: DIVE - atashi - no - HAATO - ni (DIVE - INTO - MY - HEART)  
  
He wasn't even there yet and he already hated it.  
  
It wasn't that he hated so much the idea of the school itself -- he had read through the pamphlet that his angry guidance counseler had tossed at him and thought it sounded okay -- but it was what it stood for that bothered him. It was a place for kids whose parents or caretakers couldn't handle them. They said it was for kids who didn't get along in their schools, but that was bull and he knew it. This was a place where rebellious children of the rich were sent, along with the occasional orphaned troublemaker like himself. When the rich kids hit that rebellious teenager stage, their parents could just ship them off to a place like this. Of course, he didn't know he was wrong. He wasn't even there yet.  
  
He slouched in his seat, tucking his hands into the pockets of his blue jeans and glaring resolutely at the back of the person sitting in front of him's head. Of course he would go, the state had given him a little paper saying so. But that didn't mean he had to like it. And -- he snickered to himself -- that didn't mean he couldn't pull twice as many pranks here as he had at his last school. He finally lifted himself from his anger with the resolution that he would make these people very sorry for sending him here, and smiled rather nastily at the window, at the empty landscape that was passing by.  
  
My name is Uzumaki Naruto! He said to himself, And I won't let them forget it!  
  
TOOI~SORA~KONO~SORA~UTSUKUSHII~SORA~HOSHI~SORA~NI  
  
It seemed like a very long time until the bus finally stopped, the doors opening and the driver announcing, "Kuraita High!" in a voice like grating metal. Naruto stood, reaching up to grope for his bag. He pulled down the blue backpack with little difficulty, shouldered it, and got out, with a minimal of jeers from any other teen on the bus, which in his mind was an improvement. Holding in his hand the pamphlet, rulebook, and a letter to give to whoever was at the front desk, he ran his other hand through his unruly blonde hair, and looked up at the building that would be his home and school for the next couple of years.  
  
The main building was huge and brick, old and covered with ivy that climbed like clawing hands. Large, dark wooden doors stood open to the sunny day, and tall windows allowed glimpses into the many worlds inside: the dark- haired history teacher pointing something out on the chalkboard; the pretty, red-wearing teacher of literature reading a passage aloud from a book she held open with one hand. The roof and trim of the building was a dull grey that contrasted slightly but managed to look sophisticated when paired with the dark brick. Concrete steps led to the big doors, like the stairway to heaven.  
  
There were two identical buildings on either side of the main one, both made of the same dark brick and concrete as well. Those, he reasoned after a moment of wondering, must be the dorms. For a moment, he thought he could see some dark figure watching him from one of the windows on the leftmost building, but when he blinked, whoever or whatever it was had gone. He frowned slightly at the window "it" had been in, and looked back to the main building, and those ominous doors that looked like they lead to heaven but actually led to what he was sure must be hell.  
  
With resolute steps that dragged slightly in the sincere wish to turn around and leave this place forever, he stepped forward. And whether it was to heaven or to hell he went, he would soon find out.  
  
TOOI~SORA~KONO~SORA~UTSUKUSHII~SORA~HOSHI~SORA~NI  
  
The big door to the boy's dorm pushed open with a creak that made the short, blonde boy jump about two feet into the air with a shout of, "What the Hell!?". Once he had calmed himself, he shook his head, sparing a glare for the noisy door. Clutched tightly in his left hand was the note that the receptionist had written him, saying what room he was to be staying in. The paper was rough, and now it was wrinkled. He unravelled it once again to blink at the number. B-13, it read. He thought it sounded more like a bomber jet than a dorm room, but as he couldn't think of any better way to say "boy's dorm room #13" in three letters/numbers or less, he let it go.  
  
He looked at the number next to the first door to his left. B-02, said the door. He grinned. This should be easy! he thought.  
  
Needless to say, five minutes later left him hopelessly lost, on a third floor hallway, near a door that read B-34. He wanted to scream out in frustration, and hit the wall, but he instead merely cursed loudly, and turned back towards the stair to go back downstairs and start over.  
  
One could imagine his surprise at seeing someone standing on the stair when he got back. A girl of smallish size (though still taller than Naruto) stood on the stair, one hand reaching up as though moving to swipe the scruffy black hair out of her eyes. She looked up at him with wary, intelligent black eyes. She was wearing a blue tee-shirt and black jeans, along with a bracelet on one wrist that seemed to be made of just simple string and a single dark-blue bead. Her hand slowly lowered as she stood, staring at him staring at her.  
  
"I heard someone yelling here," she said simply, her voice betraying not the slightest emotion. "I assume that was you..?"  
  
"Hai," Naruto replied, grinning despite any embarrassment. "I'm looking for my room. B-13. D'you know where that is?"  
  
"I ought to, since it's my room, too," she said, her voice now turned slightly condescending, and Naruto decided that he wasn't going to like her. "I'll show you where it is."  
  
With that, she turned. He practically ran down the steps to catch up to her, skidding to a halt mere feet from her. She looked at him out of the corner of her eyes, her black eyes catching his light-blue ones for just a moment with a look that clearly said, Back off. But Naruto had already decided not to.  
  
"Thanks a lot," he said with a smile, laughing. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, by the way. Who're you?"  
  
She gave him another frosty stare, still walking, and somehow avoiding hitting anything or even tripping.  
  
"Uchiha Sasuke desu."  
  
---to be continued--- 


	2. AISHITERU wa uso da

Kono Sora (this sky) By Ryuuen  
  
Warnings: Same as last time. ( strong language)  
  
A/N: Wai! People wanted to see more of this...? Here yah go! And.. hmm.. as for why Sasuke and Naruto are sharing a room, when Sasuke is a girl... well, you'll see. Hopefully even this chapter! But don't be mad if it's not. I'm trying to work with my moving plot, and my muse isn't being very friendly today... glares at Toby Stupid American psychopath... anyway. Please read and review!  
  
Dedication: This chapter is dedicated to Kewie-chan - without our RP sessions, I may not have had the inspiration to keep writing this. Also dedicated to Andi, but only if she promises not to kill me in Dungeons & Dragons. And.. umm.. Jinx, for telling me all those neat little tidbits about the Naruto-verse that I probably never would've known otherwise. Here's an Iruka for yah!  
  
CHALLENGE: Once again.. identify the Math teacher and Literature teacher and get a cookie! And as of this chapter, identifying the History teachers gains no cookies. Because he's named in this one. ;  
  
Ch. 2 Recommended Listening: (this is mostly for the end of the chapter, but oh well) English: "Didn't We Love" -- Tamara Walker. Japanese: "Kami- sama ga Kureta Hi" -- El-Hazard, "Still" -- Fushigi Yuugi, "Pray" -- HunterXHunter.  
  
KONO--SORA Chapter Two: AISHITE'RU - wa - uso - da (I - LOVE - YOU - IS - A - LIE)  
  
They arrived at room B-13 in silence. Sasuke told Naruto curtly to remember where it was so that he wouldn't get lost again. Naruto made a face at the girl as soon as her back was turned, then hurried to scoot into the room before she could slam the door in his face and leave him standing out there like the idiot she seemed to think he was.  
  
What does she have against me? He wondered silently as she told him in a clipped, icy tone which bed was his and what drawers in the dresser he could use. He studied her smaller form until she asked him in that same cold voice what he was staring at. He blinked. For some reason, the tone seemed familiar, but he couldn't place it. She called him a fool and he felt a stirring anger that had been building almost since he met her on that stairwell, and he stood up again from his seat on his bed.  
  
"What the hell is your problem!?" He asked angrily, glaring at her. When she merely smirked, he growled. "What the fuck? You don't even know me, and you've already got me judged! Who the hell do you think you are!"  
  
"I am Uchiha Sasuke. And you..." She paused, with a tiny, condescending smirk, and then said, "..are a fool."  
  
Naruto very nearly growled, and the only things that kept him from hitting her then and there were first that she was a girl, and second that it was against the rules and he didn't want to get thrown out on his first day. Meanwhile, her face had turned unreadable, and she was looking towards the window, onyx eyes flat and devoid of emotion. He thought he could almost hate her for that look alone. That terrible indifference.  
  
"Yanno, that attitude of yours is gonna get you killed someday," he muttered, and almost thought he saw a fleeting thought pass by those black eyes, but when he blinked, it was gone, and she had gone stony again. He sighed and flopped back on the bed, hands behind his head. He would never win, would he?  
  
TOOISORAKONOSORAUTSUKUSHIISORAHOSHISORANI  
  
He hadn't even been there for two days yet and he already hated it.  
  
He sat, fuming, in the too-small desk in the too-small History room, already wanting to scream with the frustration of it all. It was only third period. The first two periods, Math and Literature, had been an absolute Hell for the somewhat dense blonde. The math teacher, a young-looking, bespectacled man who introduced him in front of the entire class, had turned out to be far too smart for his own good, and was teaching calculus to the students who had signed up for algebra. The teacher of Literature, a twenty-something, no-nonsense woman who liked the color red, especially when it was her student's blood, had read to them from a book, and talked about a reading assignment he hadn't gotten, and had seemed shocked and displeased to learn that Naruto wasn't the type for reading. And now he was in History.  
  
The teacher was a black-haired man in his late twenties who was merely called Iruka-sensei by everyone, Iruka by the other staff, and he ruled the History department with a kid-gloved fist. He had a pleasant face that was just beginning to form lines from smiling so much. He was the kind of teacher who quickly became trusted, because he actually cared about the students. He would do just about anything for the kids in his classes, or even kids who weren't in his classes. And it earned him the trust of his students and the envy of his colleagues.  
  
"We'll continue our projects on the different parts of Japan today... oh," Iruka noticed Naruto, who was sitting in the very back of the room, and smiled again. "It looks like we have a new student. What's your name?"  
  
"Uzumaki Naruto," the boy in question practically growled, but his tone did nothing to dampen Iruka-sensei's good mood, and the man merely looked at his attendance sheet and checked off the appropriate box to show that Uzumaki Naruto had indeed been present for his class.  
  
"Alright. Class, that's Uzumaki Naruto. He's new." Iruka-sensei said, as Naruto thanked the gods that he hadn't been dragged to the front of the room this time. "Naruto, you can join Sakura and Sasuke's group, oke?"  
  
There was a dreadful, silent moment where Sasuke's onyx eyes met Naruto's blue ones, but it soon passed when the girl the teacher had called Sakura, a pretty, smallish girl with strawberry-blonde hair, smiled brightly and beckoned him to their table. Extricating himself from the tiny, half-broken desk, he did so.  
  
"So, you're the infamous Uzumaki Naruto, eh?" Sakura said with a grin. "You don't look quite as bad as Sasuke-chan said you were."  
  
Naruto spared a glare for the black-haired girl, who wasn't paying any attention to him at all, and was instead poring over a packet of instructions.  
  
"Anyway," Sakura said, interrupting his glare, "my name is Sakura. Haruno Sakura. And I guess you've already met Sasuke, huh?"  
  
Naruto nodded, looking warily at their onyx-eyed companion, who once again studiously paid them no mind. He frowned suddenly, reminded that they were supposed to be doing something.  
  
"So! What kind of project are we doing, Sakura-chan?" He asked. It was about then that he realized that Sasuke had in fact been paying attention to their conversation, for her head shot up, directing an angry, freezing glare at the blonde boy.  
  
"Don't call her -chan. You don't know her," Sasuke said, then added, "and if you even think about calling me -chan, you'll lose whatever it is that makes you a man. Understood?" Naruto nodded mutely. "Good."  
  
"We're doing our project on the history and culture of Kyoto," Sakura replied, trying to ignore her friend's blatent dislike for the newest member of their group. She looked down at her papers of research before her eyes raised once more to meet Naruto's. She smirked. "So, we should get working, nee?"  
  
Naruto nodded. Well, he thought, at least I know this class won't be boring...  
  
TOOISORAKONOSORAUTSUKUSHIISORAHOSHISORANI  
  
They arrived back at B-13 in the same silence as they had two days previously, when he had first arrived at the school. Once they got there, another heavy silence fell over them, as Sasuke opened a book on Kyoto that she had taken out of the library, and Naruto sat on his bed with a sigh and was bored. The room held shadows in the corner that seemed as monsters, waiting to grab anyone unwary enough to go to sleep. So he wouldn't sleep. Not yet, anyway. Instead, with nothing better to do, he watched his roommate study.  
  
She lay on her bed, book open in front of her, dark eyes studying the words as though they were a holy script that she had to memorize or be thrown to Hell immediately. Her shortish, dark hair was messed, he guessed from a gym class or some such. Her jeans cut off at the ankle, and she wasn't wearing shoes; her blue t-shirt was loose, and bared just almost an inch of pale skin as she was in this relaxed pose. Naruto thought she looked like something of a fallen angel. She was pale-skinned, but everything else about her was dark, even her attitude. But she didn't strike him as a bad person. She struck him as...  
  
He shook his head. Where the hell were these thoughts coming from? And why on earth did he feel like he had been here before, in this situation? Why did he feel so warm towards someone who would cut him to pieces without even thinking about... and where did that thought come from? She had never shown any real inclination towards violence, but why...? He frowned, lying back on his bed and staring at the ceiling, trying to sort out the strange feelings and sense of deja-vu that he had been getting for the last two days.  
  
After a while, he turned his head slightly to speak, light-blue eyes trained on Sasuke.  
  
"Nee, Sasuke?" He asked, for once unsmiling, his thoughts still running around in confusing little circles all over the place.  
  
"What is it, dobe?" She asked, condescention in her voice, but for once he didn't get angry for it. It struck a note somewhere in the depths of his memory, and he tried to hold on to the thought. Unfortunately, it faded, like they always had. Every deja-vu feeling or tiny recollection faded from his memories almost as soon as they come, leaving him only with a frightening hollow feeling inside, as he tried in vain to recapture the feelings.  
  
"...Have you ever had the feeling that.." He sighed slightly, pausing. She was going to think he was insane. But he had to finish. "..that we met somewhere before? Before I came here?"  
  
She paused before she answered, and Naruto clung to his tiny thread of hope that she wouldn't say he was mad and kick him out. Instead, she turned away from him slightly, and said her answer to the wall.  
  
"Do you remember, too, dobe?" She asked in a softer tone, still not looking at him. Her voice was rough, though whether with hidden tears or frustration Naruto couldn't say. "Do you remember, or are you playing with me?"  
  
It took him a moment to process what was going on. Apparently... apparently Sasuke knew a lot more about this than he did. He shook his head even though she couldn't see it.  
  
"Remember?" He questioned, and tried not to see the way she tensed at the questioning tone of his voice. "Remember what..?"  
  
"The past, you idiot," she said, her voice still rough and soft at the same time, her face tilted down towards the bed, though still away from him, so he couldn't see her expression. He sat up, looking at her still, as she continued to speak. "The past.. before this. Do you remember it?"  
  
"The past before this?" Naruto wondered aloud, then remembered the flashes, the ones he couldn't remember what were about, but he knew them. "I.. I have.. these flashes. I always forget what they're about, but... is that what you mean?"  
  
Sasuke was silent for what seemed, to Naruto, a very long time, staying very, very still. When Sasuke spoke this time, breaking the almost profound silence, she raised her head slightly, to look at him with those onyx eyes. They seemed, he noticed, to hold some emotion now. Was it.. sadness?  
  
"...hai," she said finally, keeping her eyes locked on his. ".. I suppose that is as close to what I mean.. as you can get."  
  
Naruto frowned in confusion, his sky-colored eyes searching hers for some hint of what to say. What he found shocked him. In her eyes was such a well of sadness.. so dark he wondered how she could ever smile. Then he realized that he had never actually seen her smile -- not really smile, anyhow. As he puzzled over this, he realized that Sasuke had continued to speak.  
  
"Sakura-chan.. doesn't remember," she lamented softly, looking away from him at last, turning her sorrowful eyes in another direction, something that Naruto regarded with mixed emotions. "Neither does anyone else I've seen.. I thought I was the only one.. and then you came back.."  
  
"Came back?" It barely registered to him that he had spoken aloud until he saw Sasuke's slight nod in response. He tried to control his confusion, attempting to understand what was being said to him as her voice, still sounding so sad, found it's way into his mind again.  
  
"Sou.. came back..." Sasuke stood very slowly, looking down at him with those terribly, terribly sad black eyes. He stared back, his heart beating too quickly in his chest. He felt himself blush a little at her intense scrutiny.  
  
Then, she spoke again:  
  
"You came back to me, Naruto.." She said, her voice sad and hopeful and happy all at the same time, and the small smile on her face was real, though it trembled with threatened tears.  
  
And then she kissed him.  
  
---to be continued--- 


End file.
